Prospective license seekers range from BGF Retail and WeMakePrice to Kiwoom Securities and Kyobo Life Insurance

Major brokerage firms reported worse-than-expected earnings in the fourth quarter of last year, with analysts citing increased market volatility coupled with a slump in the nation’s equity-linked securities market, data released in recent days showed. Mirae Asset Daewoo’s fourth-quarter net profit dropped 72 percent on-year to 26.9 billion won ($23.9 million), noticeably below the average range of 40 billion-50 billion won projected by analysts. The firm had been reporting lackluster

KB Financial Group, a major South Korean banking group, said Friday its net profit declined 7.3 percent on year in 2018, hit by outlays related to job cuts. 　Net profit stood at 3.06 trillion won (US$2.72 billion) last year, KB Financial said in a regulatory filing. The profit fell below the market expectation of 3.31 trillion won.  　KB Financial said it spent 286 billion won in severance payments and 185 billion won in compensation as it carried out a voluntary retirement program late last

South Korea’s Woori Bank has partnered with Southeast Asian ride-hailing giant Grab’s Cambodia office to offer low-interest loans and other specialized financial products to Grab drivers in the country, the bank said Thursday.WB Finance, the Cambodian business unit of Woori Bank, signed a memorandum of understanding with Grab Cambodia, to launch a series of financial services specifically designed for Cambodia’s Grab drivers, including low-interest loans. “Grab Cambodia w

South Korea’s financial regulator plans to raise the limit of recharging credit on mobile payment platforms from the current 2 million won ($1,782), as part of its plans to ease rules on quick payment services, an official said Thursday.The new plan addresses the growing ire among mobile platform operators and users on the 2 million won recharge cap, which makes it impossible for users to purchase goods that cost more than the stated limit through payment systems such as Kakao Pay or Naver

A South Korean man has reportedly filed a damage suit seeking compensation for war bonds and insurance products his father was forced to purchase from Japanese financial companies in 1943 during the Japanese colonial rule of Korea. According to a report by local broadcaster YTN on Thursday, Ahn Chul-woo, an 80-year-old man living in Busan, is pursuing a lawsuit in Korea against Japan Post Group, a major financial company and postal service operator in the neighboring country. Ahn directed his su

Woori Bank clinches ad deal with Blackpink, KB Kookmin Bank renews contract with BTS

Anticipation is building up over who will become the new owner of Lotte Card, a credit card business owned by Korean-Japanese retail conglomerate Lotte Group that has been put up for sale.　Lotte Group has set out to sell three of its financial units -- Lotte Card, Lotte Non-Life Insurance and Lotte Capital – as part of steps toward adopting a holding company structure. Under South Korean law mandating a separation of financial and industrial capital, a holding corporation cannot possess fi

Woori clinches ad deal with Blackpink, KB renews contract with BTS

South Korea’s chief regulator said Wednesday that it plans to ease listing rules for the nation’s tertiary bourse, focused on startups and small and medium-sized firms, to reform the capital market and support the growth of the Korean economy. The Financial Services Commission will lower the bar for the size of the deposit that regular investors need to participate in the Konex market, FSC Chairman Choi Jong-ku said at an event in central Seoul.  The required deposit will be 30

The number of counterfeit South Korean banknotes detected here last year reached a 20-year low, the central bank said Wednesday.The Bank of Korea said a total of 605 fake bills were found in 2018, down a sharp 63.5 percent from 1,657 a year earlier. It was the lowest figure since 1998, when 365 forged notes were discovered.The BOK said the decrease was driven by the arrest of two big-time counterfeiters in the country. As a result, the number of counterfeit 10,000-won bills (worth around $8.95 e

South Korea’s Meritz Securities said Tuesday that its annual net profit surged 22.1 percent to a record high last year, amid local securities firms’ continuing struggle to survive competition with giant investment banks. The firm said its 2018 net income amounted to 433.8 billion won ($388.4 million) compared with 355.2 billion won a year earlier. Its operating profit jumped 20 percent to 532.3 billion won, while net operating income rose 21.9 percent to 1.3 trillion won.  &ldqu

Refinitiv, a financial data company co-owned by Blackstone Group and Thomson Reuters, said it is introducing its risk-management business to South Korea this year for financial risk control and crime prevention.The firm was formerly the financial and risk business division of Thomson Reuters. It became independent under a new name, Refinitiv, when private equity group Blackstone purchased a 55 percent stake in the business from Thomson Reuters in October 2018.The company highlighted it

The South Korean central bank said Tuesday that it has no plans to issue authorized digital currency in the near future despite heated debate over virtual money across the world.The Bank of Korea has completed a study on the prospects for the introduction of a central bank digital currency, referring to a form of fiat money that is issued by central banks and governments. Its final report said there is no urgent need for the BOK to introduce CBDC in the close future, while other leading central

BET coin is BitParadise’s own version of bitcoin, which the company says can be used in lieu of currency on the new cryptocurrency exchange that encompasses the traits of trade mining and gaming. BET coins can also be viewed as points that can be earned though depositing bitcoins in the exchange. It is programmed to be used like complimentary items or services at offline casinos. The firm specifically compared the system to the comp system adopted by Kangwon Land, a state-owned casino in G